Olympian swimmer Anita Alvarez says she's doing well after fainting underwater during the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
"Thank you everyone," she wrote on her Instagram Story June 23. "Know that I am okay and healthy! I appreciate all of the messages of support and hope everyone can respect that my team and I still have 2 more days of competition to be focused on here in Budapest."
However, Alvarez says her chance of continuing to swim in the remaining competition is still undecided, writing, "Whether that's in the water for me or on the sidelines will be determined by myself and expert medical staff, but either way @artswimusa and I have a job to finish and I hope everyone can understand that."
On June 22, images captured Anita floating toward the bottom of the pool, seemingly unconscious, after finishing her solo free routine. Her coach Andrea Fuentes—who previously won four synchronized swimming Olympic medals for Spain—heroically leapt in the pool and was photographed pulling the swimmer up to the surface of the water.
The coach and an unidentified man then dragged Alvarez to the edge of the pool, where she received medical attention before being taken away on a stretcher, per the Olympic Games website.
After the incident, Fuentes released a statement saying that Alvarez was okay and was resting. "We sometimes forget that this happens in other high-endurance sports," she shared. "Marathon, cycling, cross country… we all have seen images where some athletes don't make it to the finish line and others help them to get there. Our sport is no different than others, just in a pool, we push through limits and sometimes we find them."